When a Box Is a Big Deal

Starting with the middle of the 20th century, as transport costs have shrunk, a slew of complementary innovations made shipping even cheaper.

Why LEGO and Yeti Are Similar

Even from the best ideas, like what container ships did for our transportation infrastructure, we can have unintended consequences.

The Great Lego Spill

Because of a huge wave and massive container ships, we wound up with a gargantuan number of Lego pieces becoming The Great Lego Spill.

Why It’s Tough to Turn Around a Big Ship

Large container ships can carry approximately 22,000 boxes called TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). Above, the vessel in our featured image has 15,000 containers. In just one of them, you can add 48,000 bananas to the global supply chain. Or, imagine…

The Beginning of Terminal Gridlock

As cargo ships become larger, the supply chain benefits of their economies of scale are offset by the externalities they create at ports and beyond.